I have to confess. I live a double life. Sunday marks the beginning of football season. It also marks the beginning of what is always a difficult balance for me…

Sunday @1:00pm – WHODEY!
The boys in black and orange are back! I will bring out the TJ jersey, the black and orange striped knee-socks, the coozie I wear around my neck, my WhoDey beads, and all the rest. I will pace back and forth in the living room, shout at the TV every time they run the ball, and place way too much of my day’s happiness on a team that has yet to actually make me happy. Maybe this is our year?

Back upstairs for a quick-change, and possibly a nap.

Sunday @8:15pm – GO HORSE!
I met Casey in November of 2005, right before the Colts lost to the Steelers in the playoffs (and right after the Steelers assaulted Carson Palmer). Football season didn’t really affect the early days of our relationship (although his reaction to that loss was pretty frightening). Still together for kickoff 2006, Sundays were no longer 3-hour games, but entire days of endless football, so that we could both watch our games. I can’t lie, it was pretty easy to get used to watching a team that won every game, and eventually won the Super Bowl. By the end of the season, I found I had racked up quite a collection of Colts ticket stubs, jerseys, and player knowledge.

Two years later, we are both still die-hard. And as football season kicks off on Sunday (no one cared about last night’s game), I will be saying goodbye to any sort of Sunday accomplishments and hello to chicken wings (Hooters, please). We will take up residency at the Oak Tavern, where Casey knows the bartender and is assured that the Colts will be on at least one of four flat screens. And for the next five months I will delicately balance my love for the boys of the Jungle and the boys in Blue.

Who wants it more?

Today’s post brings our first ever Product Review to the MM&M blog. Shall we?

According to Old Navy:

Product: Women’s Racerback Sport Tank

Description: Smooth, quick-drying tank features a sporty racerback and built-in shelf bra to help you reach your peak performance. Exposed stitching and piping at the neckline add a stylish twist.

Cost: $14.50

According to Emily’s 5-mile Run:

Product: A suffocating, bunching, upside-down spandex turtleneck

Description: If you want an innertube of bunchy spandex fabric right under your ribcage, this is the running tank for you! You’ll feel like you’re wearing an upside-down turtleneck as you tug and adjust at the ridiculous cut of the torso. You’ll be so uncomfortable, you’ll actually fold the tank up and tuck it into the sports bra – adding a stylish twist!

Cost: My dignity on the streets of Hyde Park. The feeling that I can ever be comfortable running in public again. That I have to live with the fact that I considered running topless for the last 2 miles. Oh, and $14.50.

Damn you, Old Navy.

Note: the “upside-down turtleneck” term has been coined by myself and Lindsey in reference to the many race shirts we have received in several years of running. Why can’t a women’s shirt be cut to fit a normal human? They are all huge and boxy at the top, and then waaay too long and narrow at the bottom, creating the feeling that you are wearing an upside-down turtleneck, which in case you haven’t experienced it, is not at all fun and even less flattering.